Tot Town's director, Melanie Hoke, and her staff members Jennifer Nogel and Michelle Asby are charged with failure to report child abuse or neglect. This is on top on a previous charge of negligent child endangerment.

The defense argues Hoke was not working the day of the alleged incident, even though she was at the Carmike Theatre with her own children.

"The day of the alleged incident she was taking her own kids to the movie and was not specifically supervising the other children,” said Melanie Hoke’s defense attorney, Paul Ryan. "As an owner she understands she has the responsibility to have good teachers, which these were. These are all trained teachers. She teaches them specifically and at best this may have been an oversight."

Tot Town remains closed after its license was suspended in August. The three women are expected back in court at the end of October.

Copyright 2012 by KECI, KCFW, KTVM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

You share in the NBC Montana.com community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Please email wmiller@keci.com if a comment violates these standards. Due to a technical change, all comments posted before Jan. 9, 2014 no longer appear on NBCMontana.com. Comments posted after Jan. 14 are not impacted. We apologize for any inconvenience. The views expressed are not those of NBCMontana.com, NBCMontana or its affiliated companies. This is a community moderated forum. (Please note the 'Like' and 'Report' buttons.) By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.